I'm a minister and a sexologist. Yes, those words do go together! I am also the executive director of the Religious Institute (www.religiousinstitute.org), a multifaith organization dedicated to sexual health and justice. I hope you'll join me in exploring the connection between sexuality, religion and spirituality, and the need for sexual justice in our faith communities and society.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Post Denver Convention, Post Palin Thoughts

I was just too stunned by yesterday's announcement to blog about what was missing from the Democratic convention as I had promised.I might be celebrating today a step forward for women if McCain had nominated Christie Todd Whitman, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Olympia Snow, Susan Collins -- in other words, a Republican woman candidate for the White House who actually supports women's rights with a proven track record at the national level. I encourage you to watch the opening segment from Friday night's Daily Show. Jon Stewart and Samantha Bee get it as only they could. Let's just begin by pointing out how disappointed I am that the candidate for Vice President is against abortion even in cases of rape and incest and supports a constitutional amendment against same sex marriage. But, I still want to say something about what concerned me about last week in Denver, before our attention is turned towards Minnesota. Although I Senator Obama talked about "reducing unintended pregnancies" and "our gay brothers and sisters", I can't recall that any of the most major speakers committed to Roe or called for marriage equality. A few speakers may have mentioned the word gay, but at least as far as I heard, none mentioned the word "transgender" or called for ENDA. Besides Bill Clinton, if AIDS prevention in the U.S. was mentioned, I missed it. We heard a little bit about Joe Biden's bill on sexual violence against women, but otherwise issues of sexual harassment, domestic violence, and sexual abuse prevention were MIA. So was speaking out against abstinence-only education or removing abstinence requirements in Pepfar. And the faith panels included far more faith leaders who do not support sexual justice than those who do. So, yes, this election season will be historic, but for those of us who work for sexual justice, there is much to do to have our commitments honored by both parties.As I will end my sermon tomorrow, "let us labor together, for all that is sacred and just, as co-creators of the loving world we seek."Have a blessed weekend.